The Shrine of Bl. Stanley Rother in Oklahoma City

A reader recently visited the shrine of the Bl. Stanley Rother in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and kindly shared these pictures with us. Blessed Stanley was a priest of the archdiocese of Oklahoma City, who was murdered in 1981 while serving at a mission in Guatemala run by his diocese; he was beatified in September of 2017, and his feast is kept on July 28. Construction of the shrine began in November of 2019, and the church was dedicated in February of this year by the local ordinary, His Excellency Archbishop Paul Coakly.

It’s very good to see such a new church returning to traditional architectural and artistic styles; the Spanish colonial building has beautiful dark wood moldings and coffered ceilings, and a cruciform design with a central dome. The paintings are all in a classical style, while the reredos, altars and podiums themselves are also quite ornate, with Baroque details. The tabernacles in both the main church and rear chapel are placed directly behind their respective altars, and while the main church does not seem to have much room to accommodate the celebration of Mass ad orientem, the rear chapel does.

The main altar contains the Blessed Stanley’s relics.